April cartoon caption contest heads to Florida Everglades

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

I don’t use Express Mail (now called Priority Mail Express for domestic service) often, but when I do, I’m grateful the service exists and give hardly a nod to the cost.

However, postal stamps with high denominations still elicit a certain amount of moaning from the collecting community with claims that they are unnecessary. One recent example is the $10 Floral Geometry stamp issued Feb. 24 in San Diego.

Given increases in postal rates — it costs nearly $10 for Priority Mail these days — I’m thinking that a better case can be made today for a $10 stamp than could have been made 130 years when the first $5 stamp (Scott 245) was included with the 1893 Columbian Exposition issue.

The most recent Priority Mail stamp (Scott 5751), denominated $9.65, was issued Jan. 22. The design features a variety of birds in a sawgrass marsh in the Florida Everglades. The USPS mentions the following birds by name in its description of the design: “a great egret in flight and a great blue heron patiently awaiting its prey” and “roseate spoonbills and other waterbirds fly overhead.”

Let’s use this $9.65 Florida Everglades Priority Mail stamp as the cartoon caption contest stamp for April.

I invite you to put yourself in the great egret’s feathers and comment on the new high denomination stamps, the cost of Priority or Express Mail, or the cost of living generally (which seems appropriate given the looming tax deadline). Of course, you can also ignore those themes and come up with a thought on philately, politics, war, ornithology, or any other theme that occurs to you.

Entries with a touch of humor or irony stand the best chance of winning the contest.

There will be two prizes given to the winners: one for the best philatelic line and one for the best nonphilatelic line.

Put your entry (or entries) on a postcard if possible and send it to me, John Hotchner, Cartoon Contest, Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125; or email it to jmhstamp@verizon.net. If you send an email, it is essential that you include your postal mailing address.

For each winner, the prize will be a 13-week subscription to Linn’s (a new subscription or an extension).

Entries must reach me no later than April 28.

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